Tuesday, February 01, 2011

I've been pretty lazy with my blogging, so I thought I'd use this sick day (and my complete lack of motivation to get up and move) to my advantage and post something!

I don't have much to report in the way of changes in my life, which I guess is a good thing for now. I'm taking two classes this semester, which is less than I had planned to take, but my tuition remission only covers 7 hours until the summer. Although I enjoy my classes, I've been reconsidering the certification route. Because of the limitations attached to my job and the amount of credit hours I can take in an academic year (18), certification will take me almost another two years. When I realized this, I made an appointment with an advisor in Career Services at SLU in an effort to sort out if teaching is really what I want to do.

The woman I met with (who is actually close friends with one of my favorite OT faculty members) was extremely helpful. She asked the right questions, let me do a lot of talking (which I guess I needed!), and had some good suggestions. After speaking with her, I realized that I have passion for literature, not for teaching. I always kind of knew this, but because a MA in English isn't doable with my schedule, I felt that certification was practical. I think I struggle a lot with what's "practical"; the more I think about it, most of my choices in life center around this concept. I don't know if this is because I feel like I'm not often rewarded for taking risks, or just because I'm older and my goals have changed.

Regardless, I think my goals are changing again. I've been looking into a MA in Higher Education at SLU, and depending on what I learn when I speak to the department of Higher Ed, I might do this instead of certification. I'm having a hard time throwing out the hours I've earned this past year, but in reality, few of the classes held my interest. Additionally, working on a paper after a 10-hour day isn't great, either. Work has been terrible lately, as we have a huge regional conference this weekend that I pretty much organized independently (and is in no way related to my job), and this is definitely affecting my view of school. After a long day, you want to do something you love, not just something you tolerate.

However, on a positive note, Andy and I have planned a relaxing, SLU-free trip to Seattle in July! I'm pretty psyched about Seattle, as it's somewhere we could potentially live, but it also seems to be a great city; the music venues, vintage shops, and restaurants I've researched are adorable, and I can't wait to eat fresh seafood! I'm using this Seattle trip as a major motivation to get through the rest of Spring, so you can expect more annoying posts about the west coast to come soon.

And now, because this post has sort of rambled on, here are some random observations and updates:

1. I always thought I had a great sense of rhythm, and then I went to a Zumba class. It was a tough workout, but I will never feel as awkward as I did while "dropping my booty" during a song that consisted of a guy yelling, "YOU GO GIRL!" over a dance beat. Basically imagine Elaine Benes doing this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwVdBH4vjLU&feature=relmfu and you'll have a picture of what I looked like on Saturday morning.

2. The Oscars were pretty disappointing this year. Anne Hathaway's tailored tuxedo aside, there were no great surprises, and James Franco was painful to watch. I was obviously happy to see my British boyfriend, Colin Firth, win, but not even his handsome face could distract me from the hot mess that was the rest of the show.

4. I finally saw The Social Network, and although I thought Jesse Eisenberg's "mean nerd" impression was spot-on, I was underwhelmed. The story wasn't particularly strong, and I felt like the conflict was inflated with dark colors, moody music, and lots of scowling.

5. I will be 27 in a little over a month and I'm not sure how I feel about that.